Nepal evacuates 253 students stranded in Israel

Kathmandu: Nepal's Foreign Minister N P Saud on Thursday left Israel along with 253 students who were stranded in the war-torn country following the surprise multifront attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, officials here said.

"Rescue aircraft has just taken off from Ben Gurion Airport Tel Aviv," Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a post on X.

It thanked Israeli authorities for their prompt support in relocating Nepali nationals to safe zone, movement to airport, flight clearance and other procedures.

"We commend (the) tireless works of our Embassy in Tel Aviv and duly acknowledge support and cooperation received from various agencies back home to make this possible," the ministry said in another post.

The flight is expected to arrive in Kathmandu at 1.30 am on Thursday, according to the secretariat of Foreign Minister Saud, who arrived in Israel on board the same aircraft earlier in the day.

Ten Nepalese students were killed when Hamas launched a sudden strike at a farm in Israel's Kibbutz.

There were 17 Nepalese students on the farm where the Hamas launched the attack. Ten Nepalese nationals were killed, six escaped and one went missing in the incident.

Four of the students who sustained injuries in the incident are currently undergoing treatment in a hospital with the assistance of the Israeli government.

After the killing of 10 students of agriculture working as interns in Israel under a learn and earn scheme, the Nepal government with the assistance from Israel military relocated the remaining Nepalese students to a safe zone.

Besides 265 agriculture students, who have gone to Israel from different universities in Nepal under the 'Learn and Earn' internship programme, there are 450 other Nepalese working in different fields in Israel.

Israel has vowed an unprecedented offensive against Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, after its fighters broke through the border fence and stormed into the country's south through air, land and sea on October 7. The conflict that has already claimed more than 2,500 lives on both sides.